Rackham Graduate School Dean Janet Weiss will chair the committee, which is charged with recommending candidates to replace Francis X. Blouin Jr., who is leaving his post as director in August 2013 after 35 years. He will return to his role as professor in the Department of History and the School of Information.

The majority of the library's current executive committee and others will serve as the search advisory committee, according to an email from Weiss. The committee includes:

• Cynthia Wilbanks, vice president for government relations and special advisor to the president.

"We hope to identify a new director during the coming academic year to take the reins from Professor Fran Blouin when he concludes his term next summer," Weiss wrote. "I look forward to the selection of a new director who will continue the intellectual and educational activities important to the future of the Bentley Historical Library and to the University of Michigan more broadly."